An update on the arrangements for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's funeral. This will take place at 12am AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, with coverage starting at 11pm on Saturday. Unfortunately there can only be 30 guests at the funeral, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that he will not be attending. Prince Harry will be flying in from the USA for the funeral, however Meghan, Duchess of Sussex who is pregnant with their second child will not be attending as she is not allowed to fly. We can make an educated guess at some of the guests;
1). Queen Elizabeth II
2). Prince Charles of Wales
3). Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
4). Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
5). Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
6). Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
7). Princess Anne, Princess Royal
8). Sir Timothy Laurence
9). Peter Phillips
10). Zara Tindall
11). Mike Tindall
12). Prince Andrew, Duke of York
13). Princess Beatrice of York
14). Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
15). Princess Eugenie of York
16). Jack Brooksbank
17). Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
18). Sophie, Countess of Wessex
19). Lady Louise Windsor
20). James, Viscount Severn
21). Archie Miller-Blakewell (Prince Philip's private secretary)
Who will fill the other 9 sports is anyone's guess. Perhaps Autumn Phillips and Sarah, Duchess of York. The ex-wives of The Duke's son Prince Andrew and grandson Peter Phillips were close to Philip. There is a strong chance the spots will be filled by Philip's niece and nephew via Queen Elizabeth's sister Princess Margaret. I would be surprised if David Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto didn't attend. My guess is they will come without their children and perhaps Lady Sarah will attend with her husband. Other possibilities for spot fillers might be Queen Elizabeth's cousins Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.
The above list is just speculation, it doesn't even begin to account for Prince Philip's side of the family. Prince Philip has a number of biological nephews still alive such as Prince Georg Andreas of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (son of Philip's sister Princess Margarita), Prince Maximilian of Baden and Prince Ludwig of Baden (sons of Philip's sister Princess Theodora) and the children of Philip's sister Princess Sophia; Prince Karl of Hesse, Prince Rainer of Hesse and Princess Clarissa of Hesse-Kassel. It is likely just one of them will attend to represent the family.
All in all it will be interesting to see who fills those empty spots. Other arrangements which we know for certain are that the funeral will be televised. I will try to do a live update as I watch it. We know that Prince Philip's coffin will be transported to the chapel in a custom built Land Rover which The Duke helped design when he was consulted about his funeral plans. There will be a procession on foot by Prince Philip's family (most likely his children) and some of his household staff.
This is all we know currently. There have been some lovely tributes from Prince Philip's children and royals from around the world. I will share them with you in the coming days as well as any new updates.
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